Present day, the global population is aging and people are living longer lives due to rapid advances in medicine, which now grants physicians the means to prolong life by providing effective treatment for what were once fatal diseases. The internet has helped to make the world's population become smarter, in regards to taking care of one's overall health and finding ways to improve health outcomes through preventive medicine.
Although the population worldwide is aging and living longer, many in our population suffer from incapacitating illnesses that leave them partially or completely disabled. Hence, the rapid increase in home healthcare, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and rehabilitation facilities etc.
Many in the country's aging population are receiving the basic nursing care they require on a daily basis in these types of settings. Such care includes: feeding, cleaning, medication delivery, transportation, and basic personal hygiene, which, more often than not, do not include basic dental/oral hygiene care. Caretakers often forget about or neglect Oral Health when they are tending to the overall health of the person they are delivering care to. This is not the caretaker's fault; it is a result of the under-emphasis on good oral health and its relationship to overall health in our society. Most medical school students receive little if any training on the oral cavity and the relationship of the mouth to the rest of the human body. The oral cavity/mouth is a major organ of the human body, and is the only portal or gateway food, good nutrition, and hence good health.
Many in the medical and dental communities are starting to realize the importance of good oral/dental health in the total health of the human body. Many medical schools are starting to expand their curriculums providing students with a more robust knowledge of oral/dental health and its relationship to the total health of the humans' species.
More and more in-depth research is underway, and finding important links between conditions common to the mouth and their relationship to systemic conditions in the rest of the body. The relationship between diabetes, a systemic condition and periodontal disease in the mouth has been established through copious research and published peer-reviewed articles.
It is an objective of the present invention to put the appropriate emphasis on good oral/dental health as an integral component of good overall health. The present invention will provide caregivers of disabled, bedridden and incapacitated patients a portable instrumentation platform with the ability to conveniently provide adequate and timely oral/dental hygiene to the patient on a regular basis along with vital sign monitoring.
The invention may be marketed at organizations and entities such as: Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Mentally & Physically Disabled Patients who require caregivers in-home, Remote Military Medical facilities and other Locations, Hospitals (Public/Private/VA with incapacitated/critical patients, Dental Assisting/Medical Assisting Trade Schools, Nursing Schools, Inpatient Rehabilitation Centers, and Mental Health Facilities with Disabled Patients.